merry & bright & blessed

we've had a wonderful weekend celebrating our Savior's birth...hope you have, too

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Holiday catch up

{I should be knitting, I should be knitting...}

Busy times here as I'm sure they are at your house with your loves. 

Last week we drove to see Sweet Daddy in Illinois and spent a cozy, snowed~in weekend with him. We had Christmas movies on, needles in hand {well, just me,} cookies baking, and a fire in the fireplace{well, fakey logs...but a lovely fire.} Christmas bliss. 

And that, my friends, is the very reason we don't go and stay with him on this assignment during this season. Cookies and TV and sitting on our buns inside do not make for healthy, happy family and that's exactly what we would do, day after day, with only swims in the hotel pool to get our blood pumping. {We did leave the hotel to drive through blizzard conditions to attend possibly my favorite church ever.}

After four days, the bliss had to come to an end. Back home we went. We arrived after a loooonnnnng 6 1/2 hour drive...{doesn't sound too long, but I hadn't slept well the night before and we lose an hour on the way east...so it's an hour later than it would've been in Illinois.} The kids and I unpacked the car, then put up our artificial Christmas tree...yes, I made the leap...and really like having it. I totally get the appeal, and my pine-allergic husband who has graciously allowed us to have a real tree in other years...appreciates it, too. It's just right and so fun to unwrap our ornaments and answers the kids' questions about the meaningful ones.

{I should be knitting, I should be knitting...}

The rest of the week went by quickly with a visit to Apple Valley to celebrate Grandma's birthday, a day full of friends {and more cookies} at our house, and a birthday dinner for Uncle Nack. Oh, and a new haircut and a touch of online shopping.

Today, it's back to knitting and Christmas movies in our pj's...with bread baking this time. No more cookies for a bit...oy.

{really...I should be knitting, I should be knitting...}

Yes, it's crunch time, yet I find myself tweaking my FB profile and adding photos, then becoming distracted by others' pictures and verging on becoming a creepy voyeur. {I mean, let's get real...that is the point of Facebook, right? That and presenting the best possible picture of our lives. Okay, rant over...I am, after all, a willing participant in it and enjoy keeping in touch with peeps through FB.}

Merrymaking

O Christmas tree...

I'm on the fence about getting one or buying a can't-even-believe-I'm-saying-it artificial tree this year, because I so get the convenience of it now.

This may be the third year we don't have a tree up in our house because of our wanderin' ways.

But I mostly grieve for the {you who know me well can say it with me} experience of it.

Opa and Anne to the rescue! They took the kiddos and I had a couple hours to scramble and do as many errands as possible. Anne even took pictures...couldn't have asked for more.

Still undecided about our own tree, though.

Yarn Along

Two of my favorite things: knitting and reading. Linked up with Ginny at small things again.

This week is fuh-lying by! There has been little time to read or knit. Monday, we did have a quiet day at home. So Bean and I were snuggled up reading these two books. On my needles is a mitten that matches the headband from last week. Not sure who it's for, yet. 

{Bean's skirt is still on the needles. It will hopefully be a quick finish...but may be bumped to a birthday gift for her in January. We have 3 chapters to go in Peter Pan. And the Lisa Samson book that I said I would finish within the week is still on my headboard. I read a little and get sleepy. Not a comment on her writing...just my lack of time to read or sleep.}

North America

Not officially being on the road, we received an intriguing exploration offer last week. 

My Aunt Mary Ann has worked at a private Montessori school in town for 25+ years. For a long time she administrated the preschool and now teaches the primary class.  I had the opportunity to work with her doing after school care there while I was in college. Truth be told, she trained me in many of my first jobs...at our family swimming pool as a snack bar worker, as an office clerk, and as a lifeguard. I owe lots of my work ethic to her...{not that you would know much about my work ethic in my current...position.}  

The school is such a neat place and develops individuals for life-long learning. {Montessori and Classical education {the educational philosophy we use} have some similarities ie: the multi-age, ungraded classroom and the study of history vs. social studies.}

Each year, the school creates an environment that focuses on a continent. Each class takes responsibility for a region or era in the continent's history and develops a way to experience part of that culture or history with an interactive display. And she invited us to come and experience it. 

the girls grinding corn

Bug inside a pueblo

drum circle by our hosts

a ride in the Model T

This year's focus was North America. The display included a "Detroit" motorworks with assembly line, a Plains Indians area, a civil war encampment, a pioneer homestead, a Pueblo Indian dwelling, and an exhibit displaying the traditional art of Huichol people from the Mexican mountains. The display was open to invited visitors, but the best part was watching classes spend their free play times experiencing what they had worked so very hard to build. Very cool.

Amybars

Each year as the weather drops below freezing I feel a stronger urge to hole up and wait it out. So like the proverbial ant, I gather. After I fill our pantry and freezer, I start filling the garage, as the outdoors becomes a veritable refrigerator and our storage capacity increases exponentially. If I don't need groceries, I won't have to go outside until April, right?

And I cook...soup, bread, casseroles {remind me to give you our new fave - chicken enchillada casserole}...you know, warm stuff.  And my latest experiment....

Have you tried a Larabar? Lovely stuff...healthy fruit and nut bars, with the main ingredient of dates. {You may remember last winter's fling with dates.}

Back to the bars...I like the density and sweetness of them. And their ability to emerge relatively unscathed from the depths of my knitting bag is a plus. Which makes them the ultimate sneak-into-a-movie snack...if you are one...who...does...that.

Of course, the delusion that I am eating something healthy to offset the handsful of Halloween-moving-right-thru-Thanksgiving-to-Christmas candy I drop down my gullet or my new habit of eating crackers and cheese at 9:30pm {yeah, how did that begin?} helps.

But I don't like paying close to $2 for each bar. Alternative?

I googled for a minute {that's sounds bad, doesn't it?} and found a couple of homemade versions. Choosing this one, I found it fast and easy. I made one batch with toasted pecans and dried cherries. The next was with unsweetened coconut and dried cranberries. 

Yum. I called the kids over and popped a sticky wad in each of their mouths. Thumbs up from them. Mom-tested, kid approved. Now we have a stash in the refrigerator apple bin, so that when grabbing for snacks, the kiddos may see them and remember they likey. And now you know and can help yourself when you're here.

product review {for the ladies}

I think there are a few male people who read this blog..so...let's get rid of them, shall we?

....period...

...fallopian tubes...

...cramps...




still there?

...mucus plug...

yup, that ought to do it....are they gone? 

I just want to declare my love to the world for the Diva Cup! {I've declared it face to face with a couple of you....}

If you want to know what I'm talking about, click on the link.

Again, appealing to both my frugal and crunchy tendencies...it's a winner. The fact that I don't have to run out for supplies at the last minute helps, too. The only fly in the soup of convenience is messing with the cup in a public restroom, especially a port-a-potty in the middle of the Pennsylvania mountains...nope, didn't think that one through. But other than that...I *heart* Diva Cup. 

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny at small things and others in another Yarn Along.

As you can see, I have a new project barely started...another headband/earwarmer.

Alas, today will be dedicated to sewing door draftstoppers and designing our Christmas cards...after our usual school day. I may not get to my needles for a while.

Still no Christmas decorations...but maybe this afternoon.

 

Bean discovered this forgotten book that I found at a garage sale last summer...$1 ~ score! It includes the original versions of The Wind in the Willows, The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. The pictures of Barrie's Peter Pan must have intrigued her and so we find ourselves in Neverland at least once a day. It is a lovely place to be. 

It's snowing here and the kids are begging to go out and play. Welcome December!

{Update: Draftstoppers ~ check. Bit of merrymaking ~ check. And it's still snowing.}